LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



00D17034S34 



LIBRARY OF. CONGRESS. 

'W^ — 

©i^ap. iop^rig^^t "^0. 



Shelf. 



B.J.. 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



/ 



Price, 20 Cents, 




New York: 

THE TRADESIflAN'S PUBLISHING COMPANY, 

No. 13 Park Row. 



MARKETING 



A RELIABLE &UIDE TO THE PDECHASE OF 



Meats, Poultry, Oame, Fisli, VegetaMcs, Fruits, 



And all other articles of food to be found in the Markets of 
any city in the United States. 



r^ 



J-- 




By f. b: goddard, 



/ {Formerly Editor p/ the Xeiv York Mar/cet Journal.) 



r 






THE IRADESMAN'S PUBLISHING COMPANY, 

No. 13 Park Row, 

New York City. 






COPYRIGHTED, 1887, BY F. B. GODDAKD, 






TOTHE IIEADE:^: 

The information contained in this little wotk has neVer befofe 
been presented in a similar form, and its preparation has been 
more laborious than its size might perhaps indicate. 

Much care has been taken to make it reliable, and it is hoped 
that housekeepers everywhere may find it helpful and instructive. 

And the sensible marketman, who keeps really first-class articles, 
will be glad to have his customers own and read this book. They 
can then appreciate his efforts to please, and w411 soon learn to 
realize the vast difference between his tender and juicy meats, 
his poultry, game and fine varieties of fish, his fresh and early 
vegetables, and those of the dealer who sells "cheap meats," 
stale vegetables and unwholesome fruits. 

F. B. G. 



MARKETING. 



An old adage says, "First catch the hare before you cook it ;" 
yet, while books abound which teach us how to prepare our food, 
there is absolutely no handy little volume which tells us how to 
go to market and buy it. 

It is said upon good authority that the people of the United 
States waste enough in ignorant buying and bad cooking to feed 
another nation equally numerous. The price of food is half the 
price of life, and half the price of food is wasted for want of 
knowledge. In the midst of abundance the American people 
have never learned the art of living well upon small resources. 
Certain it is that three French families can, as a rule, live gen- 
erously upon the materials provided for two average American 
households ; but while we study the French language in our 
schools, follow their fashions and imitate their cookery to some 
extent, we reject the more valuable lessons they teach in the 
selection and preparation of their daily home food, and seem 
almost to despise their table economies. 

Variety in Food. 

Sameness cloys and often has a depressing effect upon the 
health of children and delicate people. Variety in food is not 
mere luxury or pampering of appetite. With variety, the food is 
more palatable, easily digested and wholesome, and is no more 
costly. The repugnance to the same unvaried dish is not the 
result of a spoiled palate ; it is nature speaking out her wants. 
Only with varied and alternating dishes can we be sure that 
what is lacking in one food stuff will be supplied in another. 
But there may even be a table which is generous and varied 
every day, and yet monotonous. We tire after a while of an 
unbroken round of the orthodox "choice cuts," in the form of 
roasts, steaks, chops and cutlets. Many dishes have been 



6 MARKETING. 

invented, says Brillat Savarin, so attractive that they unceas- 
ingly renew the appetite, and which are at the same time so light 
and delicate that they flatter the palate, without overloading the 
stomach. 

Comparative Prices of Diflerent Cuts. 

In former times, prices of the different cuts of meat were more 
even. Prime pieces were lower and chucks, rounds, etc., 
higher in comparison. Now, everybody wants only the best, 
and prices of both qualities rule accordingly. At least two- 
thirds of the carcass is now retailed at cost, or less than cost of 
the whole animal per pound ; and it stands to reason that 
the butcher must find a profit in the choicer cuts. 

Mr. Armour, president of the Butchers' National Association,, 
says this condition of affairs is due to the foreign demand, which 
a few years ago sprang up for American canned meats. The 
coarser parts, such as plates, shoulders, etc., are mainly used for 
this purpose, and the large canners induced the butchers to take 
the ribs and loins, and thus the people became educated to 
their use. 

He declares, also, that the tastes of the people have been 
vitiated, and that if they would learn to eat more soups, stews 
and boiling pieces, and could be made to realize that the'plates, 
chucks, shoulders, etc., are quite as nutritious and more econom- 
ical, it would improve the general health and be more profitable 
to the butcher. 

A National Disli. 

We are behind other nations in having no national dish, unless 
it be roast turkey — that estimable bird which graces the tables 
of rich and poor alike on Christmas, Thanksgiving, and other 
holidays. But if we are ever to have a dish which is at once 
good, wholesome, economical, and nationally popular, it will be 
neither a roast, broil, nor fry, but some sort of a stew, like the 
French ^jio^ cmfeu^ into which can enter those cheaper prices of 
meat which are pronounced the poorest, but which are really the 
richest in flavor and nutrition. Such a dish would create new 



MARKETING. 7 

ties of sympathy and patriotism among the people through the 
very potent agency of their stomachs. 

Soups and Stews. 

Richard Cobden praised soup as the source of French pros- 
perity, and Edward Atkinson says he would ask no better epitaph 
than this, " He taught the American people how to stew." 
Table Ecoiioinies. 

Contrast, for instance, the cost of a meal of mutton chops and 
the same quantity of a cheaper piece, cut up and put into a pot 
with a little water, and allowed to simmer two or three hours 
with some inexpensive additions; or the cost of a tenderloin steak, 
as compared with that of the excellent Irish stew\ 

In cooking chops or steak, a portion goes up the chimney 
in vapor, or drops into the fire, and a good deal clings to the 
bones and is thrown away, while nothing is lost in the soud or 
stew, and the materials arc far cheaper. Thousands of families 
would really have better and more palatable food and be quite as 
healthy and well nourished if they would more frequently buy 
the cheaper cuts of meat and vary their methods of cooking, to 
say nothing of the economy. 

IVliicli are tlie Best Cuts? 

Those parts which contain most of the tenderloin are generally 
pronounced the best, and command the highest price. But while 
the tenderloin is more tender, it is less juicy and well flavored, 
and contains less nutrition. Intelligent physicians do not pre- 
scribe tenderloin steaks for their convalescing patients; nor do 
butchers, who know what is what, often carry them home to 
their families. Miss Parloa declares that " Tenderloin steak has 
hardly any flavor, and is not half as nutritious as one from the 
round or rump." Round steak she pronounces richer and better 
in flavor than any other. 

lioss in Cooking- Meat, 

The loss of weight in cooking meat is from ^ to i, which is 
chiefly water, and beef shrinks rather less than mutton. 

The following table shows the quantity of water in various 
articles of food : 



8 



MARKETING. 



Per cent, of Water. 

Lean Beef 72 

Fat Beef 51 

Lean Mutton 72 

Fat Mutton 53 

Fat Pork 39 

Dried Ham 15 

Tripe 68 

Fish, white 78 



Per cent, of Water. 

Fish, red (salmon) 77 

White of Egg 78 

Yolk of Egg 52 

Butter 15 

Cheese, about 36 

Milk 86 

Poultry 74 

Potatoes 74 



Force in Food. 

The energy which may be developed by an ounce of lean beef 
is put at 55; of veal at 45; lean ham, 65; fat pork, 201; dried 
bacon, 291 ; white fish, 43; poultry, 51 ; potatoes, 38; cabbage, 16; 
white of egg, 22; yolk, 127; butter, 281; cheese, 168; ham, 149; 
ale, 30. 

The above are not absolutely to be relied upon as to the value 
of a diet, but they give broad indications. There is also a ques- 
tion of their digestibility and assimilation. 

Digestion of Food. 

Rice, tripe, whipped eggs, sage, raw eggs, lamb, parsnips, 
baked potatoes, and fricasseed chicken are the most easily 
digested substances, in the order given. Rice disappears from 
the stomach in 1 hour, fricasseed chicken in 2f hours. Roast 
beef is digested in 3 hours, roast fowl in 4 hours, while salt beef 
and pork require 4 J to 4^ hours each. 

Fats. 

Fat taken with meats aids digestion of the meat; and this is 
also the case with beans and other vegetables. In the New Eng- 
land dish of pork and beans, for instance, each helps to digest 
the other. Fats are a necessary part of human food, and it 
exists in varying amounts in nearly all that we eat. All animals 
contain it, not only in great reservoirs around the kidneys and 
through the tissues, but also, finely divided and invisible to the 
naked eye, in every organ and fluid of the body. 

Meats contain 5 to 10 per cent, of fat; eggs, 12 per cent.; 



MARKETING. 9 

milk, 3 to four per cent. ; butter, 80 to 90 per cent. ; cheese, 
from 8 to 30 per cent. ; almonds and nuts, generally, 53 to 66 per 
cent., and all vegetables from traces to 3 per cent. A too fatty- 
diet invites bilious difficulties, while a starchy diet alone fails to 
supply vigor to the body and richness to the blood. 

Best Age and. Weiglit of Food Animals, etc. 

The flesh of young animals is less rich in salts and syntonine, 
and it also loses more weight in cooking. The best age for beef 
animals is from 3 to 8 years. The average weight of a steer is 
about 800 pounds, of a heifer, 500 and upward. Sheep, full 
grown, weigh 60 to 90 pounds and yield about 60 per cent, of 
available food; a pig of 180 or 200 pounds yields about 75 to 80 
per cent. In lean animals the bones are relatively in too great 
proportion. Taking the whole animal, an average of 20 per 
cent, should be allowed for the bone. The fore-quarter contains 
a less proportion of meat to bone, and is less tender than 
the hind-quarter, but many claim it to be more juicy and well 
flavored. Strict Hebrews eat only the fore-quarters, as the meat 
of the hind-quarters is forbidden them by their religion. 

Orass and Orain Fed Animals. 

Beef and mutton are usually at their best from November to 
May, as they are then generally grain or stall fed, and their meat 
is better than that of grass fed animals. Beef from the latter 
may be juicy and tender, but it lacks the solidity, flavor, and 
nourishing qualities of grain fed beef, and it shrinks more in 
cooking. Farmers seldom salt down the meat of grass fed ani- 
mals. The flesh of oxen which have been worked and then 
fatted for slaughter will be more tender than of those which have 
always been fat, as it is newly made. 

"Ripening" Meats. 

Veal and pork should be eaten soon after being killed, but beef 
or mutton is much improved by keeping it in a cool, dry place 
until it "ripens." The length of time required depends on the 
f^eason and the weather; in summer from a week to ten days, and 
in winter as long, perhaps, as 30 days. The temperature should 



10 MARKETING. 

be as equable as possible, because frequent cbatiges tend to make 
the juices run out. The meat shoukl be examined often and 
wiped with a dry cloth, if necessary. Experienced housekeepers 
sometimes dredge their hanging meats with flour, to absorb the 
moisture which exudes. 

If the meat appears to shrink in hanging, it will shrink all the 
less in cooking. 

Some experienced cooks and butchers go so far as to declare 
that they prefer the meat of ordinary beeves after it has been 
properly hung and ripened, to that of choice grain-fed cattle 
recently killed. This is rather a doubtful statement; but ripened 
meats are certainly better and more economical — they go further. 
And those who have never compared the two can hardly realize 
how much the ripening influence of time has to do with making 
a piece of properly hung beef or mutton tender and juicy, and 
bringing out the flavor of the meadows and cornfields. But 
meats should never be put on ice ; and freezing, while it renders 
meat and poultry tender, takes away their flavor. 
Spoiled Meats, etc. 

If meat has begun to putrify, its color becomes paler and, even 
at an early stage, its odor differs from the not unpleasant smell of 
fresh meat. If a knife is thrust into any kind of good, fresh, 
smoked or pickled meat, the resistance is uniform. In putrifying 
meat, some parts are softer than others. The smell of the knife 
is a good test. 

At an early stage, putrification may be arrested and the taint 
removed by parboiling. The French have a remarkable knack 
of sweetening up meats, poultry and game, which are pretty far 
gone, and the following is one of the best of their methods: 
Wash in several cold waters, then put into j^lenty cold water and 
throw in some pieces of red hot charcoal. It should then be 
cooked with little delay. If any part of a piece of meat has 
become touched with flies, it may be rubbed with a cloth dipped 
in vinegar and dried quickly. 

HoAv to Judge of Oood Meats. 

The meat of any lean animal is inferior ; good beef should, 



MARKETING. 11 

therefore, have a fair proportion of fat about the kidneys and 
overlying the loin and ribs, and the lean or muscular portions 
should be ingrained or "marbled" with little streaks, dots or 
points of fat. If the animal is in good health, rested and cool 
-when slaughtered, the suet fat will be white, firm, dry, and 
crumbly; if yellow, oily or fibrous, the beef is inferior. But 
meat which is too fat is wasteful, and there is sometimes more 
fat than juice or flavor. The marbled appearance is an excellent 
indication, yet, if the animal has been fed on grass instead of 
grain, the little fat streaks through the muscular j)arts are apt 
to melt out, leaving the meat flabby and stringy. 

Good beef should have a dark red color when first cut, chang- 
ing to a brighter red or cherry color, after a few moments' 
exposure to the air. This is probably due to the juices coming 
to the surface. A bluish, or dull, dark red color indicates poor 
beef. It should look juicy, be smooth-grained and velvety to 
the touch, and somewhat firm and elastic. The bones and 
sinews should be comparatively small. The pale, moist muscle 
marks the young animal ; a somewhat darker color, older ones. 

A Bad Habit. 

Some people have a bad habit of punching their fingers into a 
piece of beef to see if it is tender, which is useless and very 
annoying to the butcher, as it spoils the appearance of the 
piece. 

A Oood Butcher. 

The best butcher may sometimes be deceived, but he can gen- 
erally tell the quality of meat almost at a glance. He can even 
judge of it in the dark from his sense of touch, which goes to 
show that experience teaches much which cannot be told in a 
book. And although many suggestions are given here which 
will be found of great value in buying supplies for the family, it 
is wise to deal with a trustworthy butcher, place confidence in 
his judgment and rely largely upon his advice. Wandering 
bargain-hunters who distrust everybody and everything but their 
own judgment, are especially liable to be trapped and cheated. 



13 



MAKKETING. 



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MARKETING. 



13 



Cutting Up Beef. 

The modes of cutting and the names given the parts in differ- 
ent localities are sufficiently varied to cause some confusion. 
The New York and Chicago methods are very similar and more 
''like the English, you know," while Boston, Philadelphia, 
Cincinnati and St. Louis cut more in the Quaker and partly 
German style. Col. T. F. Devoe, formerly superintendent of 
the markets of New York city, and a practical butcher, gives the 
different cuts of a beef animal as seen in Fig. 1, on the pre- 
ceding page. 

The divisions marked with the letter S (in Fig. 1) are commonly 
used for steaks, he says. The numbers along the top of the back 
denote the number of ribs in each ''roasting piece," while the 
other numbers refer to the table (following below), which 
designates the common name of each part in New York, and in 
Boston, and Philadelphia, as near as can be given. The style of 
cutting and names are such as were in vogue some years ago ; 
they have changed in some particulars, although essentially they 
remain the same. 

Explanation of Fig, 1. 



NEW YORK AND BROOKLYN. 

1. S, Hip or Thick Sii-loin. 

2. Second Cut or Middle 

Ribs 

3. S, Small End Sirloin 

4. First Cut Rib 

5. Third Cut or Thick Rib. 
6 First Cut Chuck Rib 

7, S, Second Cut Chuck Rib 

8, S, Cross Rib 

9, S, Chuck Rib, or Third Cut 

Chuck 

10. S, Rump 

11. Socket or Face Rump. . . 

12. First Cut Round 

13. Second Cut Round 

14. Top of Sirloin 

15. S. Neck Piece 

16. S, Second CutNeckPlece. 

17. Plate Piece 

18. Navel Piece 

19. Brisket Piece 

20. Shoulder Clod 

21. Flank Piece 

22. Third Cut of Neck 

23. LegofBeef 

34. Shin of Beef 



BOSTON. 

Part of Rump or Hook Bone 
Second Prime Rib , 

Sirloin 

Fore or First Prime Rib 

Third Prime Rib 

First Chuck Rib 

Second Chuck Rib 

Leg Piece 

Chuck Piece 

Aitch or Edgebone 

Rump (part of) 

Round 

Leg Ran 

Tliick Flank 

Neck Piece 

Rattle Ran or Running Piece, 

Navel End of Brisket 

Butt End of Brisket 

Clod (part of) 

Thin Flank 

Neck Piece 

Shank 

Shin 



PHILADELPHIA. 

Pin Bone Sirloin 

Middle Rib Cut 

Sirloin 

First Rib Cut 

Third Rib Cut 

Best Chuck Rib 

Chuck Rib Cut 

Bowler Piece 

Chuck Piece 

Tail End Rump 

Rump Piece (^part of).. . . 

Round 

Round (part on 

Cut with Sirloin Steaks. 
Neck Cut 

Plate Piece .".".'.'.'. ....'.'.'.'.'. 

Thin End of Brisket 

Thick End of Brisket. . . . 

Clod (part of) 

Flank 

Neck 

Leg 

Shanj£ 



14 



MARKETING. 



The Latest and Most Approved. Mode of Cutting Meats. 

In Fig. 2, page 15, are presented the most modern and approved 
modes of cutting bocf in Chicago and New York, with the Phila- 
delphia variations, and the name given each part in the respective 
cities. It is claimed that the New York and Chicago mode of 
cutting is becoming more and more popular, as it is better known, 
and that it will soon be universally adopted, for the reason that 
it is the outgrowth of the experience of the largest butchers and 
packing houses of the two cities. 

Names of tlic Cuts, 



NO 
1, 


CHICAGO. 

a., b, Loiiy Loin 


PHILADELPHIA. 

Loin 


NEW YORK. 

Loin . ... 

















? 


c. Full Round 


Whole Round 


Full Round . 


s' 


(7) Rib 


(6) Rib 


(7) Rib 


4 


First Chuck 






«i 








6. 

7. 
8. 






Rump 

Second Chuck 


Second Chuck 


Second Chuck 


Third Chuck 


Third Chuck 


Third Chi-ck 








10. 


Thin, or best end Brisket. . 

Thin, or l)est end Plate 

Thick, or butt end Plate. . . 
Thick, or butt end Brisket. 

Ncek Piece, or Chuck 

Neck Cut 


Thin end Brisket 




Thin end Plate 




12. 
13. 
14 








Brisket Piece 


Neck Cut 


Neck Cut 


1*1 


Neck 


Neck 


17. 

18. 
19 




Clod 








Shin 

Flank 


Same 


Same 


20. 










Hip Sirloin Steak 






(Not Cut) 




Veiuv part of Rump 

(Not Cut) 




b 




Sirloin Steak 


d. 


Top of Sirloin 


Tf>p of Sirloin 


Thifk Mnnlr 







At 17 is shown middle cut of shoulder with the. bone in, though the bone is often 
removed and the clod or shoulder cut to suit. 

Explanation of Fig. 2. 

The solid lines show the New York and Chicago method, and 
the dotted lines the variations of the Philadelphia style. For 
example, in Philadelphia, a, b and c being the rump and 3 the 
round, the veiny pieces are left either on the rump or round, at 
choice of the buyer; a is the pin bone, solid for roasting; then 
follow the rump steaks, parallel with the straight dotted line. 
The sirloin and sirloin steak is No. 1 below the dotted curved 
line. It will thus be seen that, strictly speaking, the New York 
or Chicago butcher cuts no rump steaks, and that the back cut 
of the loin is the Philadelphia sirloin steak, which in New York 
and Chicago is called the porterhouse. 



MAKKETING. 



15 



The First Cut. 




the 



Fig. 2. 
neck pieces 



The first cut the butcher makes in a side of 
beef is on the line below 
20 (see Fig. 2), thus leav- 
ing all the ribs in the fore ; 
when ribs are left on the 
hind -quarter, as is often 
the case, Chicago butchers 
call it a "shoemaker's 
cut." 

Second Cut. — The sec- 
ond cut is along the line 
between b and c, varied 
often by keeping up to- 
wards c. The round is cut 
along the line between 2 
and 6 and c and n, keep- 
ing well or more towards c. 
Third Cut. — Next the 
knife is run along the line 
to the left of 11 and 12, 
over the tops of the ribs, 
which are sawed off at a 
point to the right of 15, thus 
leaving the rack of beef; 
10 and 13 are separated 
from 11 and 12, leaving 
plate and brisket. The 
rack is cut at pleasure on 
any of the cross lines. 
Quality of tlie Cuts. 
Back ward from the head 
the price increases, and it 
decreases downward to- 
wards the legs in both 
quarters. Behind the ears 
used mainly for soups and stewing. 



16 MAEKETING. 

Next, in the upper portion of the fore-quarter, come in succes- 
sion the poorer chuck ribs and the best chuck ribs, which are 
used for steaks and roasts — next in excellence to the sirloin, and 
sold usually at about two-thirds the price. Next are the 3d, 2d, 
and 1st cut of ribs, all of which are "prime" roasts. The 
lower half of the fore-quarter, often called the "rattle ran," 
includes the brisket pieces, cross rib and plate pieces. The 
cross rib piece is used for steaks, leef a la mode, and pot roasting. 
The rest for corning, stews, etc. 

Still to the rear, and in the belly of the animal, come the flank 
pieces. The inner side of the flank is tender, and butchers 
sometimes cut from it small steak pieces which they pronounce 
better than chuck steaks. The outside of the flank is tougher 
and is used for stewing and corning. There are also on the ribs 
two nice little steaks called the "skirts." Above the flank are the 
loins, whence come the best steaks, etc., and further backward 
the rump pieces, used for steaks and roasts. Backward still is 
the round, used for steaks, etc. The top of the round is more 
tender than the lower part, and the meat gets poorer and 
cheaper down the leg. 

A slice of sirloin steak of the proper thickness will weigh from 
2|^ to 4 pounds, according to the size of the animal. The trim- 
ming away of the flesh, bone, and fat considerably reduces this 
weight, so that the good and tender meat which remains is com- 
paratively expensive. The round steaks are all meat, without 
bone or superfluous fat, and are consequently very economical in 
respect to waste, as well as lower in price. 

Practical Suggestions of Butchers. 

One of the largest and best butchers in Washington Market, 
New York, says the most economical part of the sirloin is cut 
from the hip or lower part of the loin. It contains only a small 
knuckle bone, and makes good steaks, roast, or pot-roast, and it 
sells at about two-thirds the price of prime ribs. It is juicy, well 
flavored and fairly tender, but not the choicest part of the animal. 

An experienced butcher in Jefferson Market says that while the 
chuck parts are only from a half to two-thirds the price of prime 



MARKETING. 17 

ribs, it is equal to them in succulence and flavor, and some por- 
tions of it are quite as good in all respects, besides having more 
meat in proportion to the bone. Some butchers actually prefer 
the best parts of the chuck of a good, grain- fed animal to the 
finest sirloin or tenderloin, although they are usually not quite so 
tender. From poor or inferior animals the chuck steaks and 
roasts are less desirable. 

The same butcher says he often recommends to his customers 
the first cut of the loin for a large family roast. It is called the 
round bone sirloin, and contains little tenderloin, but is excellent 
and economical. The bone should be taken out and the piece 
tied up handsomely. For a small family roast, weighing 5 to 10 
pounds, he suggests the small end of the loin. 

Salted ITIeats. 

It is not so easy to judge of the quality of salted meats. A 
slight degree of decomposition is arrested by the salt, but if 
partially putrified no amount of salting will entirely remove the 
softness or bad smell. Such meat naturally looks paler than it 
should be, but there are ways of giving it the proper color. 
Parkcs estimates salt beef, (not meaning merely corned beef), as 
equal to two-thirds the same weight of fresh. 

Corning Pieces. — The pieces generally used for corning are 
the plate, navel, brisket, top of sirloin, etc., which have the fat 
mixed through them. The rumps, edgebones and rounds are 
also corned, and preferred by many on account of their leanness 
and the delicacy of the outer fat. It is a mistake to suppose 
that good butchers corn pieces which have begun to spoil. They 
use only meats which are quite fresh. 

Tlie Brine. 

Careful butchers are very particular to have the brine fresh 
and sweet in which they corn the beef for their customers, for 
meats placed in stale brine take on an unpleasant smell and 
taste. Brine used too often and too long may even become 
poisonous. This is supposed to be caused by the animal sub- 
stances which pass into it from the meat and decompose. 



18 MARKETING. 

Beef Tongues. — These are a delicacy, whether fresh, smoked, 
or pickled, hot or cold. The best are thick, firm, and with 
plenty of fat on the under side. 

Beep Liver. — The best are yellowish red, clear and bright. 
Calves' liver is preferred to that of beef, while pigs' liver is 
inferior and cheaper. 

Beeps' Heart. — This makes a very economical, wholesome, 
and substantial dinner. Those with much clear, lively fat 
around the top are the best. They are stuffed and roasted and 
also braised. Calves' hearts are smaller and more tender 

Kidneys. — There are two in each animal. The best are of a 
clear, dark red : used for frying, broiling, and for stews ; those 
of veal are the best. 

Suet. — This comes from around the kidneys. It should be 
white and crumble into pieces easily. The Hebrews use the fat 
from the intestines in place of lard. English pastry cooks take 
the fibres from lard leaf and kidney suet and roll the two 
together in equal parts. Then they mold it into large " pats," 
from which they cut off thin slices for making pastry; this is 
worth trying. 

Tripe. — A very easily digested and palatable article when 
properly prepared. Is eaten either broiled, fried or stewed. 
Choose that which is thick, white, and fat. The honeycomb 
part is generally preferred. When tripe is dark and thin it sig- 
nifies that the animal was either distillery-fed or diseased. 

Ox Tails. — Three make a common turreen full of excellent and 
nutritious soup. 

Palates. — The palate, which lies at the roof of the mouth, is 
pronounced very fine eating. 

Cooking Meats. 

The great point in cooking meats is to render them tender 
without extracting the juices, and it is better to cook them 
slowly, so that the loss shall be only water. But they should 
first be subjected to a high heat, thus coagulating the surface 
albumen so as to retain the juices. 

Boiling Meats. — The pieces should be large and plunged at 



MARKETING. 19 

once into boiling water. Then keep at a temperature of about 
160°. Above 170° the meat shrinks and becomes hard; below 
1G0° it will not cook thoroughly. 

Broths. — Cut the meat small and put into cold water, warm- 
ing gradually to 150°. Beef, which makes the weakest broth, 
thus yields about 82 per cent, of its goodness. Mutton broth is 
a little stronger, and chicken broth strongest of all. 

Roasting. — A big roast is better than a small one, as less 
juice escapes, and one rib will not make as good a roast as two 
or three. The weight of a joint is not a safe basis as to the 
length of time required to cook it. It takes longer to cook a 
small, thick piece than a large, thin one, and meat which has 
been kept and ripened cooks in less time than when freshly 
killed. Never roast meat without a rack in the pan. If suffered 
to rest in the water or drippings it becomes soggy. 

Steaks. — Francatelli, chief cook to Queen Victoria, declares 
that a "perfect steak" should be cut an inch thick, from a 
healthy, grain-fed animal, which has been slaughtered and hung 
up to ripen at least ten days, weather permitting. It should 
never be pounded, which is "a vain attempt to make tough 
meat tender by bruising its fibres." It should be cooked soon 
after it is cut off, by broiling over a clear charcoal fire, and 
turned every two minutes. 

MUTTON. 

Although mutton is one of the most wholesome, nutritious, and 
easily digested of meats, Americans, as a rule, prefer beef, and 
do not take as kindly to mutton as do the English people, with 
whom it is the favorite meat. But the consumption of mutton is 
constantly increasing in this country, as the breeds of sheep are 
improved, and more care taken in raising them for market. 
Mutton usually costs less per pound than beef, but is no more 
economical, as it must be fat to be of good quality, and the fat, 
unlike that of beef, cannot be used for cooking purposes, owing 
to its strong flavor. 

To Select Mutton. 

The best mutton is that from a small boned, short legged, 



20 



MARKETING. 



plump animal. The fat is abundant, white, clear, and solid. 
The scored skin on the forequarters is nearly red, the lean juicy 
and firm, and of a dark red color, and the leg bones clear and 

MODE OF CUTTING MUTTON. 



'^tw- 




1. Leg of Mutton. 

2. Shoulder. 

3. Loin. 
4 and 6. Neck. 
5. Breast. 

6. Scrag- end of Neck. 7. Flank. 

white. Lean mutton is generally inferior ; so is that in which 
the fat has a yellowish appearance, with flabby, bluish or stringy 
meat. Ram mutton is darker and coarse grained, the fat less 
white, and the flesh spongy and rank. 

Mutton is the meat for chops ; the best are cut from the mid- 
dle of the loin, they are also cut from the leg and from the rear 
end of the neck. Chops should not be less than half an inch 
thick, and not over fat. Mutton, like beef, improves by hanging. 
It is in season all the year round. 

The Cuts. 

For roasting or boiling, the leg is the choice piece and com- 
mands the highest price, but it has more meat in proportion to 
bone than any other cut of the animal, and is therefore econom- 
ical. The loin ribs are also roasted. The forequarters are usu- 
ally sold at a third or half less than the hindquarter. The breast 
and shoulder make a good roast, with the shoulder blade taken 



MARKETING. 21 

out. Rib chops are also cut from the breast, which is the cheapest 
joint in the animal. 3,175,000 sheep and lambs were slaughtered 
last year in the City of New York. The flesh of the young sheep 
is called lamb until the animal is a year old, after which it be- 
comes less tender and delicate. 

liamb. 

The earliest spring lambs have usually reached New York, and 
perhaps the markets of other Eastern and Northern cities, about 
the middle of March, although the time of their appearance has 
constantly been growing earlier in recent years. The first supply 
comes from New Jersey, and is quickly followed by shipments 
from Virginia, Delaware, and Kentucky. Their flesh is consid- 
ered a great delicacy, and commands a very high price. Last 
year the early price was from $8 to $13 each. They are dressed 
with the skin and toes on, and thus sold to butchers, who sell at 
$2 to $3 for the fores, and ,|4 to |5 for the hindquarters. A little 
dumpling of a lamb, weighing 30 to 35 pounds, brings more than 
a scrawny animal weighing even 50 pounds. 

Spring lambs were constantly to be had in New York last sea- 
son after New Years, and by March 10th, 1,160 head had reached 
market. After that time arrivals reached thousands weekly. 
The price, up to April 1, averaged about $7 each; but the novelty 
wears off with the advancing season, and about the last of May 
or first of June they begin to be sold by the pound, like other 
meats. The best winter lambs and yearlings come from Canada, 
New York State, and Michigan. The exquisite flavor of some of 
the English and Scotch mutton is due to the aromatic wild herbs 
in their pasturage. 

To Choose Lamb. 

Select that which has hard, white fat on the back and about 
the kidneys, and reddish colored bones. Beware of more than 
one color in the fat of the hindquarters, which may indicate that 
the fat of older mutton has been appropriated and used on the 
iamb. 

Lamb or Sheep Fries. — These are also known as " mountain 



MARKETING. 



oysters," and as a meat delicacy they rank next to veal sweet- 
breads, but are much less expensive. They are always to be had 
in the spring and summer months, but are better in the earlier 
part of the season. 

PORK. 

Fresh pork can be had in market throughout the year, but its 
proper season is during the cool fall and winter months. It is 
too gross and heating for summer food. The carcass of pork is 
divided into halves by splitting it down the back bone; the head 
is cut off and the halves divided into quarters. 2,000,000 hogs 
are slaughtered yearly in and near New York. The best grade 
of pork for family use is from pigs weighing 120 to 130 pounds. 
The skin should be thin and pearly, the fat white, and the lean 
of a delicate red, juicy, firm, and finely grained. If the skin is 
thick, the pig is old ; if clammy, the pork is stale. If the fat is 
yellow and soft, the pork is not first-class. Be sure that pork in 
any form is thoroughly cooked; if otherwist', it is unwholesome 
and may be dangerous. 

Diagram of tlie Mode of Cutting Pork. 




1. Leg of Pork. 4. Brisket. 
3. Loin. 5. Flank. 

3.ChineorRibs.6. Hocks. 
7. Head. 8. Feet. 9. Shoulder. 



Cuts of Porlt. 

The leg is roasted fresh, smoked as ham, or corned. The 
shoulder is usually salted or smoked. The loin, well scored, is 



MARKETING. 2B 

excellent as a roast, or may be cut into chops; the brisket is 
corned or salted ; the chine or ribs are cut into chops or may be 
roasted. When the rind and fat are taken off the cut is called a 
spare rib. Pork tenderloins are more delicate and tender and 
are sohl higher than the chops, but they are less juicy. The 
head is used for making head cheese, or cut into two or four 
pieces and corned, which makes a very cheap and, with many, 
a very palatable dish. The feet, pickled and properly cooked, 
are delicate and wholesome. 

Lard, Sausage, etc. 

The fat and trimmings of the pig are made into lard. Those 
who buy the leaf and try it out are sure of good, wholesome 
lard. Many housekeepers adopt the excellent plan of ordering 
a whole and fine young pig from their butcher and salting down 
such portions as they do not eat fresh, and making their own sau- 
sages, head cheese, lard, etc. Sausages in the shops should be 
firm and dry, but not sweaty on the outside. 

Hams, Bacon and Shoulders. 

The best ham is of medium size, say from 8 to 14 pounds 
in weight, plump, round, and the bone small. The shank 
should be short and tapering, skin thin and not shriveled or 
wrinkled on the back, and" the fat should be white and firm. 
They are better cured a long time in moderately strong pickle 
than a shorter time in stronger pickle. To ascertain if ham has 
begun to spoil, thrust a skewer or knife into the side of the 
aitch bone and at the knuckle joint. If sound there, the ham is 
good throughout. 

The part commonly used for bacon is the thin part of the ribs 
and belly; that which is not too thick and fat is preferred. Buy 
a short, thick shoulder, with a small bone and with a moderate 
amount of fat, which should be firm. 

Four grades of calves are recognized in New York, which are 
as follows, in the order of their value, viz: "veal" or "milk 
calves," "stall-fed" calves, '"buttermilks," and "grassers." 



24 MARKETING. 

The ** milk calves" are those which have been fed exclusively 
on the milk of the mother cow. They are considered best when 
from six to eight weeks old. Thir meat is white and firm, the 
fat about the kidneys is white. They are broad in the back and 
their meat is delicate and wholesome. The stall-fed rank next, 
and may be nearly as good. They have been fed partly on milk 
and partly on meal. The "buttermilks," which have been 
compelled to subsist on buttermilk, skimmed milk and slops, are 
generally poor and thin, and their flesh is characterized by a 
sort of reddish tinge. There is but little fat about their kid- 
neys, which are of a dark red color. 

Lastly come the "grassers," which have been turned out to 
pasture to " rustle " for themselves. They begin to reach market 
in September. Their meat bears a resemblance to beef, but is 
inferior either to beef or veal, or in fact to the flesh of any domes- 
tic food animal. This meat is often hawked about by peddlers, 
and goes largely into bologna sausages in the large cities. 

"Bob Veal." 

" Bob veal," according to the rating cf the Board of Heath of 
New York City, is the meat of a calf less than four weeks old 
and weighing under 60 pounds when dressed. Such meat is 
bluish, watery, soft, and gelatinous. * It is considered to be very 
unhealthy food, and is liable to confiscation and destruction by 
the health authorities. The weight of good merchantable calves 
alive, is from 130 to 150 pounds; such should dress about 70 per 
cent, net weight with the skin. A good 200 pound calf will 
dress 75 per cent, with the skin. 

To Select Veal, 

Good veal should be from a fair sized calf and reasonably fat. 
The fat should be firm and of a whitish color, but not too white. 
The meat should be finely grained and juicy. Veal, like pork, 
is only good and wholesome when fresh. It is more risky for the 
butcher to deal in than most other meats, for the reason that if 
he cannot dispose of it while fresh it becomes a total loss, as he 
can neither smoke nor corn it. 



MARKETING. 
Cuts of Veal. 



25 




Tlic Cuts. 

The hindquarter is the choice and most expensive. It is 
usually divided into two parts by the butcher, called the loin 
and the leg of veal. The loin is roasted and is also cut into 
chops. The leg is also roasted or made into cutlets. The fillet 
of veal is also cut from the leg. It is a solid piece, from which 
the butcher has taken out the bone. The lower part of the leg 
is called the knuckle, and is used for soups, stews, etc. The 
forequarter comprises the shoulder, neck, and breast. The 
shoulder is roasted, the neck is used for stews, pot-pies, etc., 
and the rib end is often used for rib chops, or cutlets. The 
breast is generally roasted, or used for stews, fricassees, etc. 
Sweetbreads. 

"When a plump, healthy calf is slaughtered which has been fed 
on the milk of the mother cow, there are found in the lower 
throat and near the heart, two small lumps of flesh, weighing 
perhaps half a pound, termed "sweetbreads," These, when 
properly cooked, are about the most delectable and nutritious 



26 MARKETING. 

morsels known to mankind in the line of animal food. They 
are the pancreatic glands, and their function in the animal 
economy is to assimilate the oily portions of the food. In the 
milk calf, therefore, the sweetbreads may be almost said to 
be composed of assimilated cream. 

In the older animal, or when the calf is turned out to grass, 
these glands either shrink away or become tough, so that they 
are no longer the same dainty article. About half a million 
pairs of sweetbreads were sold in New York city last year at 
prices ranging from 25 cents to |1, according to quality and sea- 
son. The sweetbread nearest the heart is more desirable than 
its mate from the throat, the latter being longer and less plump 
in form. There is little difference, however, in their delicacy. 
The two are generally sold attached to each other. Formerly, 
sweetbreads were not taken out, but were sold with the meat, 
but the demand for them is now growing rapidly with the 
wealth and luxury of the land. 

Calves' Head, etc. — Usually found in market with the hair 
taken off. When fresh, the eyes have a bright, full look, and 
the skin seems firmly attached. If the head appears yellowish 
and slimy, reject it. If small and without sign of horns, it is 
probably from a very young calf. There should be a protuber- 
ance or indication of the horns. Calves' kidneys are the best of 
all kidneys. Calves' haslet comprises the heart, liver, and 
lights. The liver of a calf is pronounced better than that 
of any other animal. Calves' brains are very delicate when 
properly cooked, and the tongues are also excellent. 




MARKETINGt. 27 

Difference in Quality, 

There are places in most large cities where meats are retailed 
at prices which seem very low ; but it will generally be found 
that there is neither satisfaction nor economy in buying at them. 
Purchasers should remember that there is a vast difference in 
the quality of meats, and that the cheapest are by no means likely 
to be the best. Cuts from a choice, grain-fed animal may 
be really worth twice the price at which similar pieces may be had 
from a hungry Texas steer or a lean, grass fed cow, and they may 
cost the butcher twice as much. The cheaper cuts of first-class 
beef are more desirable and will generally give better satisfac- 
tion than the choicest cuts of inferior beef. 

Honorable butchers, who keep really first-class meats, give 
good weight and trim the cuts fairly, cannot, as a rule, reduce 
the prices of meats very much and continue to do a fairly profit- 
able trade. Marketmen and butchers do not generally grow 
rich any faster than other tradesmen. Their commodities are 
perishable, and they are required to begin work usually long 
before other people are out of bed. 

A Good Plan. 

It saves considerable planning and trouble to the housekeeper, 
•and is also a guide to the butcher, to have certain things on cer 
tain days. Yet this rule should not be too rigid ; the butcher 
should have some latitude, for there are times when, from 
their abundance, or the difficulty of keeping, articles generally 
expensive may be had at very moderate prices, and both 
the family and the marketman be benefited by deviation from 
the usual order of the day. The butcher likes to be free to give 
a good customer the benefit of some choice article which is 
unusually abundant and low in price. 

Street Venders, 

Some of these pedlers of fish, fruits, vegetables, etc., in the 
larger cities make a regular practice of giving short weight, 
measure or change. The articles they sell are often inferior and 
stale. They work off ''gluts" of berries, produce, fish, etc., 



28 MARKETING. 

for wholesale dealers, and such refuse as cannot be sold to 
respectable marketmen. Some of them are reliable and honest, 
but as a rule it is well to be wary in dealing with them. 
POUIiTRY. 

The prices of poultry have come down within a few years, 
from the fact that farmers throughout the country, and espe- 
cially in the west, have paid more attention to raising it, having 
found that grain fed to poultry jDays better than when sold 
directly, at current prices. It is even stated that it is no more 
costly to raise a pound of ^^oultry than a jDound of pork. However 
this may be, it is certain that poultry was never before raised so 
extensively or consumed so largely in this country, and it is a reg- 
ular visitor at the tables of many who formerly considered it a 
luxury, to be eaten only on rare occasions. 

Vast quantities are sent East from Iowa and other Western 

states in refrigerator cars, and much is also forwarded alive, to be 

slaughtered by the shokets, or Jewish butchers. There has been 

a great deal of controversy in regard to the question of dressing 

poultry for market, many claiming that it will be much better, 

more delicate and palatable, without than with the entrails -and 

other offal. But the old custom still prevails in New York and 

elsewhere, and they are not generally removed until purchased 

by the consumer. 

To Select Poultry. 

Dry picked or unscalded poultry has the preference in price. 

When fresh, the eyes should be bright and full, the feet and legs 

moist and limber. If very stale it will be dark colored and slimy. 

There are people in New York who buy up stale poultry and treat 

it with alum water, etc, , to give it an ajopearance of freshness and 

remove the smell of the taint. Poultry thus doctored turns black 

shortly on exj^osure to the air, at places where the skin is removed. 

Fowl or chickens are the best which have small bones, short legs, 

and clean white flesh. It is said that those with white or yellow 

legs are better boiled, and that those with black legs should be 

roasted. The breeds with long legs and big bones are not as fine 

meated, juicy, and wxll flavored as those which are full breasted 

and plump, like a partridge. 



MARKETING. S9 

Spring chickens were to be had in the New York markets this 
year, in February, at from one to two dollars per pair, weighing 
three pounds. When ovea- one year old all are called fowl. To 
judge of the age of poultry, press with the fingers on the breast 
bone at the point towards the latter end of the body ; if young, the 
bone will be soft and pliable. The spurs of the young male are soft, 
loose, and short; if old, the comb and legs are rough, and the 
spurs are hard and firm. Both cock and hen have a hard breast 
bone. 

Capons. 

Capons are the greatest delicacies in the line of poultry, as they 
retain the tenderness of the chicken, while they acquire the flavor 
and substantial qualities of maturity; they sell usually at about 
double the price of prime roasting chickens. 

Tlie Turkey. 

As long, probably, as the imperial eagle continues to preside 
over the battles of the nation, the savory turkey will grace its 
banquets, and retain a firm hold upon the affections of the 
people. 

The young hen is usually preferred, as it is smaller, f)lump, and 
generally fatter and less angular ; although a young Tom well 
roasted is by no means to be despised. The legs should be black 
and smooth, and the breastbone soft and pliable. If fresh, the 
eyes will be bright and the feet supple. A moderate sized turkey 
is more apt to be tender than a very large one. "When the legs 
are rough, the spur of the Tom long and hard, the breastbone 
hard, and the skin fat and tough, the bird is old ; such are con- 
sidered better for boiling and for boning. Turkeys are better in 
the fall and winter. In the spring their flesh is less palatable. 
Many superior turkeys are killed in Vermont during the winter 
months and frozen solid. In this condition they are shipped all 
over the country, and are fine eating at any season of the year. 

Ouinea Fowls. 

Are considered delicate and good, but rather dry. They also 
are best in the winter months. 



30 MARKETING. 

Tame Pigeons and Squabs. 

Tame pigeons are dry but well flavored ; if confined and fed for 

a time, they are much, improved. Tame squabs may be had nearly 

all the year in market, and they are considered a delicacy. Their 

flesh is very tender and easily digested, and they are much in 

demand for invalids. White squabs range in the New York 

markets at from $2.50 to $5 i)er dozen, w4iile the dark are sold 

at about one-third less. This is on account of their less inviting 

appearance. 

Geese and Ducks. 

It is said in England that a goose is not fit to eat after it is a 

year old. They are out of season after Christmas, but young or 

green geese arrive in March and are fine eating. The breast of a 

goose should be j^lump and white, and the feet yellow and j^liable ; 

if red and stiff, the bird is old. The windpipe of a young goose 

or duck will also be soft, w^hile in older birds it is hard. 

£GGS. 

Every exemplary hen which lays an egg is perfectly justified in 
spending the next ten minutes in talking about it. She has 
scratched diligently to gather the material, made a snug little 
vess(^ of lime, and, after packing it full of the most delicate, 
palatable and nutritious food, she resigns it to the world with a 
presentation speech, full, probably, of lofty and noble sentiments, 
which we call a cackle. Many a noisy harangue is made with far 
less praiseworthy motives and results. 

The Various Kinds of Eggs. 

Turkeys eggs are pronounced more delicate and pleasant than 
any other. They bring in the New York market from 75 cents 
to $1.00 per dozen, and are sought for mostly by epicures who 
know their excellence. Guinea hens' eggs are also pronounced 
very fine and rich, and will keep a long time on account of their 
thick shells. Goose eggs are larger, whiter, and less esteemed. 
Duck eggs are bluish and less desirable than hens' eggs. 

Eight hens' eggs should weigh one pound. If a perfectly fresh 
egg is boiled it cannot be peeled, but must be dug out of the shell. 
Neither can the white of an egg be beaten into froth until it is 



MARKETING. 31 

several days old, which is a point to remember. An egg begins 
to loose its flavor after it has been laid a few hours. The older it 
is the less pleasant and nutritious it becomes. A fresh egg re- 
quires half a minute longer to boil than a stale one. 

A fresh egg feels heavier in the hand and looks clear and semi- 
transparent before a light. If the egg stands upright in water it 
is bad ; if obliquely it is not fresh. If it lies at the bottom it is 
quite fresh. The larger end of a fresh egg feels warm to the 
tongue. The contents of a stale egg rattle or bounce when shaken. 
Vinegar added to the water to boil eggs makes them white. 

GAME. 

It would be impossible, in the narrow limits of a work like this, 
to describe all the varieties of game and wild fowl which may be 
found in American markets during their proper season. We can 
only refer to the leading varieties, with some general information 
for the purchaser. 

Venison, or the Meat of the Common Deer. — Venison cannot 
be too fat ; if lean, it will be dry and flavorless. The fat should 
be white and the lean dark red. It is much better after l^eiug kept 
two or three weeks. The cuts are the loin, leg, saddle, forequarter, 
and steaks. The retail price of venison in Washington Market, 
New York, on the first of January last, was 25 cents per pound, 
and this is about an average price. 

Rabbits and Squirrels. — When young and fat, the wild rabbit 
is tender and delicate, but if over a year old the flesh is dark, dry, 
and tough. When old, the claws are long and rough. The 
domestic rabbit is superior to the wild, in flavoi and juiciness, but 
the best are inferior for the table to the gray or black squirrel. 

Bear. — The meat of the black bear is, when young and fat, 
very rich and savory. It is cut into roasts and steaks, and brings 
about 25 cents per pound in the New York markets during the 
cool months of the fall and winter. 

Wild Fowl and Oame Birds. 

Wild Goose. — This wild fowl is considered superior to the 
domestic goose. It is best m October, November, and December. 
The head and most of the neck are black, while the chest and 



32 MARKETING. 

throat are white. The young are very fine eatmg. The brant 
goose is plentiful also in the spring and fall, and is also considered 
very good for the table. A good bird will weigh about 4 pounds. 
The mature brant has black wings, while the young have them 
tipped with grayish white. 

Can^^as Back Duck. — If its food has been the wild celery of 
the southern marshes, this is considered the best of all the duck 
tribe; otherwise, it is not greatly superior to other varieties. 
This duck has a black bill about three inches long, nearly in a 
straight line with the head, and higher at the base than that of the 
red head. Part of the back of the drake resembles a piece of can- 
vas. The price, of course, varies with the season and supply, but 
they are eagerly sought after by epicures, and bring, in the New 
York market, usually $3.50 to $5 a pair. A good duck should be 
plump, fat, and heavy. 

Red Head Duck. 

This variety is much like the canvas back, and ranks next in 
popular estimation, although it usually sells at rather more than 
half the price of the former. It is advancing in popular estimation. 
The bill is about 21 inches long, slightly curved, bluish and black 
towards the end. They come in November, 
Tlie Mallard. 

Stands next in demand for the table. The head and upper neck 
are deep green, with a white ring around the middle of the neck. 
They at about two-thirds the price of the red head. 

Other varieties of ducks. Others of the duck species are the 
BLACK DUCK — good if fat and from fresh water. The wood duck 
— very beautiful in plumage, and very palatable. 
Otlier Varieties. 

The WIDGEON, the broad bill, the blue winged and the 

GREEN winged TEAL, the PINTAIL, the SPOONBILL, the WHISTLER, 

SHELLDRAKE, DIVER, COOT, and othcrs are more or less desirable for 
the table. There is also the loon, or great northern diver, 
whose flesh, being tough and rank, is held in little estimation. 
The Woodcock, 
This perhaps the most delicate and highly prized of all the game 



MARKETING. 33 

birds. It weighs about half a pound, has a large, triangular shajied 
head, and a long bill. They are in season from July to the middle 
of November, and bring, in the New York markets, from $1.25 to 
$2.00 per j^air, according to supply. 

Ctnail. 

This excellent and well known game bird is usually abundant in 
market in its season. The pi'ice ranges in the New York markets 
at $3 to $4 per dozen. The flesh of the quail is white, tender, and 
delicate. Its size is little more than one-third that of the partridge, 
and in the South it goes by that name. 

The Partridge or Ruffled Orouse. 

The white and delicate meat of this bird is held in much esteem. 
They are fairly abundant in most parts of the country during their 
season. Their legs are feathered a little below the knee, while the 
Canada grouse and the prairie hen are feathered to the ankles. 
Partridges retail in the New York markets at from $1.10 to $1.75 
per pair, in their season. 

The Prairie Chicken or Pinnated Grouse. 

This game bird is somewhat like the partridge in color and size, 
but it is more regularly barred on the breast, and has short, thick, 
fan-like tail feathers. It has a feathery mane hanging from each 
side of the neck, and its meat is dark. They are excellent when 
young and fat. The heaviest are the best. They range in price at 
from $1.00 to 1.50 per pair in Eastern markets. They are lower in 
some parts of the West. 

Snipe or English Snipe. 

This game bird is considered second only to the woodcock in 
delicacy and flavor. They sell in Eastern markets at about $2.50 
per dozen in the season. The red breasted snijDc is not quite so 
highly esteemed. 

Wild Turkeys 
Are to be had in the fall months in New York. Many arrive frozen. 
They are considered more delicate and gamey than the tame turkeys, 
especially when young. The bill is short and thick, head small, 
and a tuft of coarse black hair falls from the lower part of the 



34 MARKET II^G. 

breast. It has warty lumps or wattles on the neck. The feathers 
are glossy and dark, with spots of bronze on the wings and tail. 
They weigh usually from 10 to 20 pounds, and retail in Eastern 
markets at 20 to 25 cents per pound. 

Plover. 
The golden plover is very fine eating when in good condition, 
and the gray or grass plover is equally good. The former sells at 
about $3.00 per dozen, and the latter at $2.50 to $3.00 in Eastern 
and Western markets during the season. They are best in the 
early fall months. There are also the ring plover, the j^iping 
plover, the kildeer, and the sanderling or ruddy plover, all of 
which are sought after as excellent game birds. 

The Doe Bird. 

This is the best of the Curlew family. Some esteem it equal to 
the woodcock in flavor. It comes to Eastern markets from Indiana 
and other western points, and often sells at $10 to $12 per dozen. 
Many are sold in Eastern markets. 

Reed Birds. 

These are the bobolinks of our northern meadows. Whe i they 
migrate to the South and grow fat in the rice fields, they are 
called rice birds and reed birds. They are considered by the 
planters as a pest, but are much liked by epicures, when in good 
condition, and they are usually extremely fat in the fall months. 
Reed birds are extensively sold in market, tied in bunches, at 
$1.25 to $1.50 per dozen. 

\rild Pigeon. 

These birds were formerly very abundant and low priced, but of 
late years they appear to be scarce. Still they are plentiful at 
times, and in some portions of the country they are often over- 
whelmingly abundant. They range in price in the New York 
markets at from $1 to $2.75 per dozen according to supply. If 
fat, they are fairly good, although the flesh is rather dry. The 
wild squabs are excellent. 

' Black Birds. 

There are several species of black birds often to be found in 



MARKETING. 35 

market. Although rather small they are quite palatable, and are 
sold at about thirty-five cents per dozen. 
Otlier Birds. 

Meadow larks when fat are nearly as good as quail, though not 
so large and plump. Their sale at any season is forbidden in New 
York state. Robins are very delicate eating in the fall, when they 
are fat. The martin and the ring-tailed martin or godwit, the 
varieties of the sandpiper, the yellow legged snipe or tattler, 
the willet-tattler, etc., are all esteemed as food. The English 
sparrow, which threatens to overwhelm us, is also said to be very 
delicate and palatable. The blue jay is also eaten, but is said 
to be less desirable than the robin, and the flesh of the night hawk 
is said, also, to be excellent. 

IMPORTED GAME BIRDS, ETC. 

The main receipts of foreign game occur during the holiday 
season, but English pheasants, which are more largely imported 
than any other game bird, can be had at all seasons in the great 
Eastern cities. About ten thousand brace of them are annually 
brought to New York and sold at from $3 to $5 per brace. They 
weigh from three to four pounds each, and are much sought after 
by epicures. Their plumage is exceedingly beautiful, and each 
bird is carefully wrapped in paper. Many are sold to the taxider- 
mists, who stuff and mount them. 

The black cock and grouse from Scotland are less largely im- 
ported, as their meat is somewhat strong in flavor. About three 
thousand brace of German hare are also brought to New York 
every year, and sold at $4 to $5 per brace ; they are about the 
same size as the well know Western Jack rabbit, but their flesh is 
far more delicate and well flavored. 

Birds Not Eaten. 

The following are some of the birds which are considered, for 
various reasons, unfit for human food : 

Eagles, hawks, vultures or buzzards, ravens, crows, gulls, terns, 
auks, several species of wild ducks, sandpipers and snipe, buntings, 
woodpeckers, thrushes, grebes, herons, crossbills, cormorants, 



36 MARKETING. 

Ibis, gallinules, guillemots, orioles, mocking birds, swallows, 
petrels or Mother Gary's chickens, albatross, whippoorwills, etc. 

FISH. 

In selecting fish, choose only those wliich are finn and stiff, 
with lively red gills, eyes full and clear, and fins firm. The sooner 
any fish is cooked after being taken from the water the better it 
will be. Fish should not be allowed to remain in the water after 
being dressed. If caught in muddy ponds or stagnant waters, some 
varieties acquire a muddy flavor, which lies mostly in the skin. 
Such should, therefore, have the skin removed, or they should be 
soaked in well salted water half an hour before being cleaned. 

Those fish are most digestible which have least oil in their com- 
position. Rich or fatty fish are apt to disturb a weak stomach, and 
to produce thirst and an uneasy feeling. For such, those fish which 
are free from oil and cook dry are best. There is a white, curdy 
matter to be seen between the flakes of freshly boiled fish which 
adds much to the flavor, and is highly nutritious. This is really a 
film of albumen formed by the coagulation of the serous juices of 
the muscles. If the fish is kept long before cooking, much of this 
is lost, and the flavor of the fish is impaired. .The flesh of the male 
fish is generally better eating than that of the female, but either are 
at their greatest perfection at the period of the ripening of the milt 
or roe. After spawning time, fish appear to get out of condition ; 
their flesh becomes soft and flabby, loses flavor, and has a bluish, 
transparent look after cooking. 

Cod. 

This excellent and wholesome fish is staple throughout the year 
wherever markets can be supplied from the coast ; but it is best 
during the fall and winter, or during the cool months, and the 
price seldom varies much. Codfish steaks usually retail in the New 
York markets at from ten to twelve cents per pound, but the whole 
fish comes cheaper. 

Haddock. 

This fish resembles the cod in appearance and size, but has a 
black line along each side from the gills to the tail. The head 
bones are more prominent and the under jaw shorter. It appears 



MARKETING. 37 

in season with the cod, but is considered rather less desirable for 
the table by most people. Many are smoked by the Scotch 
method and sold as the so-called " Finnon Iladdies," and they are 

very appetizing. 

Hake. 

This appears to be also a congener of the cod, but is longer and 
rounder. It is considered inferior to the cod, and is lower in 
price. It is better s dt than fresh. Unless a person is a good 
judge of fish, one is apt to buy salt hake for codfish at country 
stores, and they are not as good, the flesh being more transparent 

and gelatinous. 

Pollack. 

Another ally of the cod family, but inferior and sold cheaper. 
Its flesh is not so white and has a bluish tinge. 
Halibut. 

This is the largest of the flat fish family, and is excellent and 
staple. There are two species in the markets— the white and the 
gray. The former looks whiter, but is no better than the latter in 
flavor. The flesh of a halibut w^eighing from 50 to 100 pounds is 
considered better than that of the larger ones, which is apt to be 
dry and tasteless. • A peculiarity of the flesh of halibut is its ten- 
dency to turn sour when it takes on a pearly whiteness. This can 
also be detected by the smell. The best have white meat. If 
yellow it is more likely to be strong, yet some with yellow meat 

are very fine. 

Blue Fish. 

This is one of our most important food fishes. It is in season 
during the summer and part of the fall, and may be had frozen 
during almost the entire year in the large Eastern cities. It is 
quite rich and substantial, and loses in flavor and w^holesomeness 
if kept long out of the water, unless frozen. But a piece of 
broiled blue fish, fresh from the water, is a dish fit for a king. In 
Rhode Island this fish is called the horse-mackerel. 
Weak Fish. 

{Ghequet or 8queteaque\. Somtimes called also Salt Water Trout. 
A good and w^ell known fish, weighing from one to eight pounds. 



38 MARKETING. 

If kept long it becomes soft and loses its flavor. The name ''weak 
fish " is, it is said, derived from its tender mouth, as it often escapes 
by tearing out the hook. It is in season from May to November, 
but is best in the fall months. It usually sells at about the same 
price as blue fish, perhaps a little less. It is bluish gray in color, 
with sjDeckled back and sides, belly white, fins yellow, under jaw 
reddish. 

Sliad. 
The season for this widely known and popular fish begins with 
shipments from Florida waters about the first of January. They 
are then not very fat or desirable, but are recognized as harbingers 
of spring and the good things soon to come. About 20,000 are 
annually sent to New York from Florida, and they sell early in the 
season at from 50 cents to $1 each, the roes bringing from one-half 
to one-third more than the bucks. Our next shad come from the 
Ogeechee River in Georgia ; then follow shipments from the Savan- 
nah and from North Carolina. The quality improves as they are 
caught northward, until they are in ^^erfection in the Hudson and 
Connecticut Rivers, about April 1. The shad is, however, still 
pursued even to the far " down East " provinces. A large portion 
of the interior of the country is regularly supplied with shad from 
Eastern and Southern points. Shad die quickly out of water; 
when fresh the gills are crimson red, scales bright, and body firm. 
When the gills begin to turn a whity blue, and the flesh is soft, 
eyes sunken, etc., the fish is unfit to eat. The roe is considered a 
delicacy, l)ut some prefer the flesh of the male, and the latter are 
considerably cheaper. Shad average to weigh about four pounds. 

Salmon. 

This royal fish stands at the head of all the finny tribes in rich 
and savory qualities. Our home supply comes from the rivers of 
Maine and the provinces, but large quantities are also sent eastward 
from the Columbia River in Oregon and the waters of Puget Sound. 
A less quantity is required of this delicious fish than of any other, 
in proportion, and the price at which it may usually be had in 
market in recent years renders it comparatively cheap. The best 
have small heads, and are quite thick through the shoulders. The 



MARKETING. 39 

"silver salmon," and the qiiinuet or Calif ornia salmon, are the supe- 
rior varieties. 

Mackerel. 

To be had fresh in the sjjring and summer throughout the Eastern 
States and is very delicate. Our fresh mackerel are seldom very fat 
and weigh but little more than a pound at the best. They are well 
known to all housekeepers. 

Spanish Mackerel, 

A very choice fish, in season during the summer and early fall 
months, but brought earlier from Southern points, frozen. They 
are much larger than the ordinary mackerel, but somewhat resemble 
it. It has several rows of pale yellow spots on the sides, instead of 
lines. The weight ranges from two to eight pounds, and it sells 
at from twenty-five to seventy-five cents per pound, according to 
supply. 

Slieepsliead, 

Another choice fish. It is large and short, with mouth and teeth 
which suggest a sheej:). Its favorite food is young oysters. They are 
very delicate and rich when fresh, but spoil quickly. They are in 
season from May to October, and weigh from three to ten pounds. 
They are generally sold considerably lower than the Spanish mack- 
erel. 

Pompauo. 

These fish come mostly from the South, but are occasionally caught 
on the northern coast. Southerners pronounce them the best of all 
table fish. They range in weight from one to ten pounds. The 
common or Carolina variety is the best of the four sjDecies of the 
Pompano. 

Sturgeon. 

In season from Aj)ril to September. It is a large fish, ranging in 
weight from one to three hundred pounds, and is from five to 
twelve feet long; it takes its food by suction. The young, fat fish, 
are considered the best Avhen the flesh appears "beefy," and the 
fat is straw colored. It is better baked than boiled, and better 
smoked than fresh. Sells at al^out fifteen cents jier pound usually. 
Fresh water sturgeon are caught in all the great lakes and rivers 
of the Mississippi valley. 



40 MARKETING. 

Striped Bass. 

This is one of our best and most valuable food fishes, and is, 
next to the salmon, perhaps the most popular salt water game 
fish. Its flesh is firm and will bear keeping for some time without 
injury. It is most abundant in the spring and fall months. 

Sea Bass or Rock Bass. 

This is also a table favorite. Its flesh is sweet, flaky and firm 
and is superior for chowders. Best season from May to October. 
Their average weight is about one and one-half pounds and they 
are usually lower in ^irice than the striped bass. 

Black Fisli or Xaiitog* 

A favorite table fish with many, their flesh being white, dry, 
and delicate, but is less prized than the bass. 

They are in season from May to December. As it is almost im- 
possible to scale them, they are usually dressed by skinning. 

Sword Flsli. 

This is a large fish and its flesh looks somewhat like veal. It is 
fine grained and palatable, and usually is quite abundant in New 
England markets along the coast. It is often to be had in the 
New York markets. 

Bonito* 

This fish is allied to the mackerel family, but is larger and 
thicker than the common mackerel. It is round and smooth, with 
a peculiar head and wide mouth. It is sometimes sold for Spanish 
mackerel, but its flesh is far inferior. It is less valued for the 
table than the blue fish, than which it is softer and more perish- 
able. Its meat has no elasticity. If pressed in or dented the 
mark remains as it would in a mellow apple. 

Tom Cod or Frost Fish* 

Without scales, and varying in color in different seasons from 
orange to a greenish yellow ; is small and a good jian fish. In sea- 
son from September to April. Weight from one-quarter to one- 
half a pound. Retail price in New York usually eight or ten 
cents per j^ound. 



MARKETING. 



41 



Smelts. 

Widely known as an excellent pan fish. The back is greenish, 
the sides silvery ; weight from an eighth to a quarter of a pound. 
Many are sold frozen. When "green" and fresh, as the fish deal- 
ers term those which have not been frozen, they possess a peculiar 
odor, something like cucumbers. This is lost as the fish becomes 
stale. The markets are largely supplied from Maine and New 
Brunswick. Prices vary with the season and supply. 

Butter Fisli or Harvest Fisli, 

In season from June to October; a fair pan fish and not expen- 
sive. They are short, deep and thin; silvery, with blue and green 
tints, large eyes, short and blunt nose. 

Herring. 
Large quantities are caught in the late winter and spring months 
and frozen; the green and frozen vary a little in price, but are 
usually sold low. The alewive is another variety of the herring 
species, and is sometimes called the hickory shad. 
Porgy or Scup. 
An excellent fish, and abundant from May to December. They 
average to weigh a pound, and are somewhat like a sheepshead in ap- 
pearance, but smaller. 

Flat Fisli. 
The plaice, or summer flounder, is considered to be the most 
important of the flat fishes, next to the halibut, and excellent for 
the table. It weighs from one to ten pounds. 

FluRes. 
This fish is flat, of an oblong shape ; color, a dark olive green, 
mottled with spots, and white underneath; mouth large and ob- 
lique, and opens on the left side ; eyes on the right side. It is a 
good table fish, but hardly equal to the plaice or summer flounder, 
although some think it fully equal. Other varieties of the flat 
family are the smooth flounder, the spotted turbot, or sea flounder, 
the small sand flounder, and the excellent Bay of Fundy turbot or 
flounder, often found in market in the winter months in Eastern 
cities. 



42 MARKETING, 

Tlie Red Snapper. 

This large, red colored fish is caught in the gulf, and up along 
the Atlantic coast as far as South Carolina. It is also found 
in the waters of the Pacific coast. It was little known in 
northern markets fifteen years ago, but is now fast becoming popu- 
lar. It weighs from four to tw^enty-five pounds, but the smaller 
sizes are most salable at the North, They retail usually at twenty 
to twenty-five cents per pound, and are l>etter boiled — flavor similar 
to that of the striped bass. They are to be had at the North during 
the cool months only. In the South they are a constant market 
staple. 

Black Percli. 

An excellent fish, caught abundantly off the coast of New Eng- 
land during May, June, and July. Weighs from 1 to 3^ pounds. 

Wliite Sea Perch. 

A small but delicate pan fish. In season in the winter and 
spring months. There are other varieties of sea perch, and they 
are held in fair esteem for the table. 

\riiiting. 

A small but good pan fish, caught extensively along the Rhode 
Island coast. They much resemble the torn cod or frost fish, and 
sell at about the same price. 

King Fisli. 

This is a gamy and highly-prized table fish, caught from the 
Chesapeake to Cape Cod from May to October. It weighs from 
^ to 2 pounds, is whitish on the belly, while the back and 
sides are dark brown. It ranks in excellence with the sheepshead, 
and sells at about the same price, or from 25 to 50 cents a pound, 
according to supply. 

Mullet. 

There are several varieties of this fish. The white mullet is con- 
sidered the best, but the striped variety is most abundant. They 
are much esteemed in the South, and large quantities are caught in 
Southern waters. Not many are sent North, but during the shad 
season a few are shipped here with the shad, and are much sought 
for by those who know their excellence. 



MAKKETING. 43 

Gar, or Sea Pike. 

A long fish. The under jaw is longer than the upper ; mouth 
full of sharp teeth, color on the back dark green. There are two 
bands along the sides and one on the back ; weight from one to six 
pounds. Season, July to October. Is a fair table fish. 

Whitebait. 

These are mites of fish like minnows. The true Thames whitebait 
of England, which furnishes the staple of the celebrated whitebait 
dinners, is pronounced by Professor Huxley to be small herring. 
Fish which are said by dealers to be the true English white- 
bait, and which are at least very similar, are sold in the New York 
markets at about fifty cents per pound. They are pronounced 
delicious, and the best mode of cooking them is said to.be to 
mix them through a batter of egg, etc., put into a bag, and cook in 
hot fat. 

Eels. 

Eels are always in season, and are very substantial and palatable 
food. The silver eel is considered the finest of the species. There 
are a number of varieties of eels, but it is not necessary to describe 
them. They are usually to be found in market dressed or with the 
skins oflf, and bring from 15 to 20 cents per pound. 

laenltaden, Mosbunker, Boney Fisli or Hard Heads (with 
Tweuty-six Otlier Names). 

This is the most abundant fish on our coast. Vast quantities are 

caught and used as a land fertilizer and for their oil. They are 

rich and savory, but are considerably more boney than shad, which 

prevents their extensive use as food. Thousands of little bones are 

scattered through their flesh, serving as points of support for the 

muscles, but without being connected with the boney framework 

of the fish. 

FRESH WATER FISH. 

Vast quantities of fresh water fish are caught in the lakes, 

rivers and inland waters of the country, and regions remote from 

the seashore are largely supplied with them. They are also sent 

to the markets of Eastern cities in abundant supply, where they 



44 MARKETING. 

are almost as staple as the salt water varieties, and some species 
are quite equal in excellence and flavor to the latter. 
White Flsli of tlie Lakes. 

This is generally considered as the most important of the fresh 
water fish of the country. It is about as large as a shad, having 
a whitish blue back, and white belly, with a sharp or pointed 
head. It is an excellent table fish, a favorite with all who eat it. 

Muscallonge, 

This fish, in size and gameness, stands at the head of all the 
finny tribes which inhabit fresh water : its weight ranges from 
five to seventy pounds, and it belongs to the pike family. It is 
considered a fine table fish, but is somewhat scarce and is seldom 
found in our markets. 

Speckled Trout. 

" Opening day," or the first day of the season when trout are per- 
mitted to be sold is usually a considerable event in the New York 
City markets, and the display is very fine. The excellence and 
beauty of this fish are too well known to need description. 

Its head and back are mottled with yellow and brownish green. 
Its sides are bluish gray, covered with yellow and crimson spots; 
its belly is silver white ; the inside of its mouth dark. 

Lake Trout. 

A fine fresh water fish, to be found in market from October to 
March, and weighing from four to seven pounds. Every lake«of 
New England and the northern States has its own variety. They 
reach their greatest perfection at the northern part of the Great 
Lakes: Huron, Michigan, and Superior, where they are called 
Mackinaw trout. 

Rainbow Trout, 

A variety brought from California and introduced into eastern 
waters, and now somewhat extensively cultivated for market on 
Long Island, etc. ; an excellent table fish. 

Wliite Fisli of tlie Lakes. 

This is the most important of all the fresh water varieties. It 



MARKETING. 45 

is about the size of the shad, has a bluish back and white beneath, 
with a sharp head. It is a very excellent table fish, and is largely 
sold in eastern markets during the proper season. 

Yellow or Wall-eyed Pike. 

This is also a fine fish. It is called sometimes the wall-eyed 
pike, because its eyes quickly become clouded after death. It 
weighs from 2 to 6 pounds, has yellow fins, brownish head and 
back, sides yellow, belly white. Its. flesh is juicy and delicate, 
fiiTn and white. It is a staple in eastern city markets, where it sells 
at from 15 to 20 cents per pound. 

Blue Pike. 

This fish is also taken from the lakes. It is inferior to the yel- 
low pike, and sells at about two-thirds its price. Is brought east 
from the Huron fisheries and from Vermillion, Ohio. 

The Sauger or Gray Pike. 

Smaller than the two preceding, as it weighs seldom more than 
2 pounds. Considered a good table fish, and sells at about same 
price as the blue pike. 

Pickerel. 

This fish is taken from rivers, l^rooks, and ponds in nearly all 
parts of the country. There are several varieties. The flesh is 
sweet and finn. Sells in New York at 10 to 18 cents per pound. 

Black Bass. (Fresh water.) 

This is a very firm fleshed and welcome fish, well known to 
amateur fishermen. It is taken in all the western lakes and streams. 
They somewhat resemble in shape the salt water black fish, but 
are shorter, with a rounder back and longer under jaw — color 
bluish black, bluish white belly. They average about two pounds 
in weight, and are often in eastern markets from October to April. 
Many ponds have been stocked with them of late years. 
Ciscoes, or Herring of tlie Lakes. 

Are to be had during the autumn and winter months. Flesh 
sweet but rather dry. They are sold at eight to ten cents per 
pound. In appearance are something like the salt water herring, 



46 MARKETING. 

but rounder, with a sharp pointed head. They are generally quite 
fat. Resemble small white fish also in general appearance, with a 
less pointed head. 

Yellow Percli. 

This fish is taken in nearly all the ponds and streams of the 

country, although not in the lower Mississipj^i basin, and can 

generally be found on the fish stands during the season, or from 

September to April. Its flesh is firm, but not especially delicate. 

Sucker. 

A thick, round bodied fish, 'with a greenish back and sides, and 
whitish belly. Not highly esteemed ; aj)t to have a muddy flavor. 

Catfish. Horned Pout or Bull Head. 

A common fresh water fish in our markets, where they are sold 
skinned, and looking red and bloody. They are substantial and 
palatable. The varieties of catfish preferred in Baltimore and 
other southern points are those which dress white instead of red. 

The catfish of the lakes are larger, and are not much esteemed 
for the table. The smaller ones, weighing under, say ten pounds 
are the best, and it is said they should be parboiled to extract the 
oil, then stuffed and roasted. 

Sun Fisli, Pond Fisli or Pumpkin Seed. 

These small and jDlentiful fish are seldom eaten unless fish are 
scarce. Their flesh is sweet, but dry and crumbly. 

turtl.es. 

Terrapin. 

This is the best of the turtle tribe, and a great favorite with epi- 
cures. They are considered best in the months of November, 
December, and January. In the New York markets the varieties 
are distinguished as the diamond back and the southern. The 
former usually sell at $18 to $25 per dozen, and the latter at from 
$12 to $18. The snapping turtle is ugly and savage in appearance, 
but the young ones are savory food. The soft shelled, the logger 
head, hawk's bill, and leather turtles are also eaten. So are the 



MARKETING. 47 

fresh water, smooth, and the red bellied terrapin. The speckled 
turtle is not often eaten, its flesh being muddy, insipid and rank. 

Green Turtles 

These friends of the aldermen are brought North from Florida, 
the West Indies, and the Spanish Main. About 8,000 reach New 
York annually. They range in weight from five to five hundred 
pounds, but average about eighty pounds. They are kept here 
through the winter in well warmed storage rooms and fed on green 
stuff, like cabbage leaves, etc. The flesh of the green turtle is sold 
in the New York markets at 20 to 25 cents per pound, and is cut 
into delicious steaks and soup pieces. The fat is green. The "veal 
part " from the forequarters is usually cut to steaks. The flesh 
attached to the upper shell is called "calipash," and is of a dull 
greenish color. " Calipee " is the flesh from the lower shell, and 
is yellowish. Turtle eggs are much sought for. 

Frogs liCgs. 

These are delicate and delicious; only the hindquarters are eaten. 
They are stewed, fried, or friccaseed. Usually command from 40 to 
70 cents per jDOund, and are best in the autumn and poorest in the 
spring. 

SHELL. FISH. 

Oysters. 

The United States surely leads the world in the size, flavor, and 
succulence of this dainty shell fish. The favorite oysters in New 
York are the "East Rivers," which generic name includes all 
brought here from the Long Island Sound waters, as far East as 
Bridgeport, aggregating about 3,000,000 bushels yearly. All the 
East Rivers are raised from their ov/n "seed." The large oys- 
ters of this variety are called "saddle rocks." Many are shipped 
under this name to all parts of Europe and to all points in the 
United States, but strictly speaking, there have been no "saddle 
rocks" in twenty-five years. Shrewsburys, Rockaways, Prince's 
Bays, and New Haven oysters are all in high repute. Many are 
sent westward from Maryland and Virginia in cars. 

Everyone knows that oysters are best in those months which are 



48 MABKETING. 

spelled with an r. In other months they are spawning, and are 
soft and milky. Oysters are never fat, but they may be plump. 
This plumpness is owing to the assimulated substance which it lias 
laid away under its "mantle," and which renders it so delicate and 
nutritious. 

Clams. 

The best clams on the Atlantic coast are known as the Quahaug 
or hard clams. They are considered excellent as an appetizer. 
Next in importance is the soft shelled clam, abundant in many 
places along the coast. The razor back and beach clam are other 
varieties. 

Scollops, 

These are a rich and dainty sea food. They are best from 
September to March. They retail in New York at from fifty to 
eighty cents. Only the muscular part of this fish is eaten; the 
largest and plumpest are considered best. 

Mussels 
are only eaten in the fall and winter months. They are very 
abundant and cheap; are best boiled and pickled. They are 
very substantial food, and are not easily digested by weak 
stomachs. 

Lobsters. 

The heaviest are the best. They are in season in all months 
except December, January, and February. It is said by scientists 
that more phosphorus is found in the flesh of lobsters and crabs, 
than that of any other fish or animal, and that it is in such a con- 
dition as to be easily assimilated. For this reason they declare 
that this sea luxury is very healthful for many people. 

In buying lobsters try if the tail be stiff and springy ; if not they 
are stale or watery. The male lobster is smaller, with narrower 
back part of the tail, and the flesh is firmer. The whole lobster 
is good to eat except the shell and craw, or stomach, which lies 
back of the head. 

Crabs. 

The crab is not as popular as the lobster, but its flesh is more 



MAKKETING. 



49 



delicate in flavor. One of the best of all sea luxuries is tlie soft 
ciab, or "shedder." Every year the crab sheds its shell, and if 
taken at the time, his delicate flesh is covered only with a thin skin. 
Solt-shell crabs are an epicurean dish. They range in price in 
mai-ket at from $1.25 to $3 per dozen during the summer and early 
fall months. 

Prawns and Slirlmp. 

Prawns, looking something like little lobsters, are brought here 
from Charleston, S. C. They are excellent. Shrimp are smaller, 
but very delicate in flavor, and are much used in making sauces. 

vegetabl.es. 

Vegetables must be made a very considerable portion of the 
human diet for the preservation of the health. 

It is an erroneous idea that medicines can of themselves cure dis- 
ease; at best they can only produce a favorable condition for 
nature to perform the cure. The proper use of vegetables as a 
part of the daily food keeps the system in a condition to resist 
disease and to ward off its attacks. Spinach, for instance, is said 
to have a beneficial effect in kidney complaints. The common 
dandelion used as greens is excellent for biliousness, and, like 
asparagus, exercises a purifying influence upon the blood. Celery 
acts admirably upon the nervous system and aids in the cure of 
rheumatism and neuralgia. 

Tomatoes act upon the liver; beets and turnips are excellent 
appetizers; lettuce is soothing to the nerves, and, like cucumbers, 
is also cooling. Red onions are diuretic in their effects, and 
white onions are recommended eaten raw as a remedy for 
insomnia or sleeplessness. In fact, garlic, leeks, chives, shallots, 
and the whole onion tribe, possess medical virtues. They tone up 
the circulating system and increase the flow of saliva and the gas- 
tric juices which promote digestion. A soup made from onions is 
regarded by the French as an excellent restorative in debility of 
the digestive organs. 

It would be easy to go through the whole vegetable list and find 
each one possessing some special mission of healthfulness, and it 



50 MARKETING, 

will be plain to every housekeeper that a vegetable diet should be 
partly adopted, especially in the spring and summer. It vill 
surely be best for the health of the family. 

The Earliest Vegetables. 

The first spring crop which reaches New York comes from the 
Bermudas, a group of islands about 600 miles to the eastward of 
Charleston. About $400,000 worth of potatoes, onions, beets, and 
tomatoes reach us yearly from there. The season begins in March, 
and reaches its height in April and May. Soon after the first re- 
ceipts from Bermuda, Florida sends forward her potatoes, tomatoes, 
peas, beans, cucumbers, etc. A little later Georgia sends along 
her garden truck ; then in succession are received shipments from 
South and North Carolina, and soon Norfolk, Virginia, wheels 
into line with its immense production, and finally, our Long Island 
and home gardeners have their season. During all this time our 
vegetables on sale are improving in freshness as they are drawn 
from sources nearer home, and the prices are falling. The earliest 
new potatoes from Bermuda and Florida command at wholesale 
from $10 to $15 per barrel, and other vegetables in 23roportion_ 
The very early cucumbers, lettuce, radishes, etc., in market, are 
raised in hothouses in Massachusetts, New Jersey, etc. 
Cooking Vegetables, 

Cooks of experience declare, as a cardinal principle, that salt should 
be added to the water in which any kind of vegetables are to be 
cooked — say to the extent of a heajiing tablespoonful to each half 
gallon of water. They say also that all vegetables, excejit old 
potatoes, should be put into boiling water. The latter are apt, if 
put into boiling water, to become pulpy on the outside before the 
inside is soft. 

Potatoes. 

Potatoes with the American people rank next to bread as a staff 
of life*. There are many favorite varieties. Some are early but 
less mealy, while others are very prolific but less desirable in 
flavor; for these reasons the different varieties vary somewhat in 
price. In choosing a j^otato, it will always be found that the 



MARKETING. 51 

finest, mealiest and most nutritious will be denser, and heavier 
than the waxy and soft ones. 

In a solution of salt, the best will sink and the poorer swim. 
This test is said to be unfailing; specific weight should therefore 
be considered in buying potatoes. 

Sweet Potatoes. 

There are two varieties in the markets, the red or purple and 
the white or yellow. The former come mainly from the more 
southerly states, but there is little difference in price. 

Ouious. 

This is one of the most wholesome and indispensable of vege- 
tables. There are many varieties. The white or silver skinned, 
yellow and red. The large Spanish onions are much milder than 
other varieties, and are largely eaten raw with vinegar. 
Garlic, Lieeksf, Cliives. 

Garlic is a pungent species of the onion or allium tribe, which 
is more used abroad than in this country. It is a fine vegetable 
for flavoring, and considered very healthful. Leeks also are 
an ally of the onion, with large leaves, a thick stalk and small 
roots. They come in July, and last all winter. Chives are a 
species of the leek, with small spine-like leaves ; only good while 
fresh, used as salads. 

Cabbage. 

A standard vegetable which may be had all the year round. The 
heaviest are the best. Among the varieties are the curled leaf or 
Savoy cabbage, which is a favorite with many. The red cabbage 
is largely used for cold slaw or pickling. 
Cauliflower. 

This is an aristocratic and delicately flavored member of the cab- 
bage family. It has been growing more abundant and less expen- 
sive of late years. It is to be had in market nearly all the year, 
being grown in hothouses in winter. It is best from April to De- 
cember. The large, creamy white, solid heads, are the best. If the 
leaves are wilted, or the head has dark or soft spots on it, the 
cauliflower is stale. 



52 MARKETING. 

Carrots, 

Another wholesome and standard vegetable, to be had through- 
out the year There are different varieties and colors of carrots. It 
is much used for soups, stews, harricots, etc. 

Parsnip. 

Always to be had when other vegetables are scarce, and always 
nourishing and good. The choice are large, heavy and free from 
side roots. This is one of the vegetables which frost improves. 

Celery, 

A delicious and most healthful vegetable, a tonic for the nerves, 
and excellent for people troubled with rheumatism and neuralgia. 
It is sometimes bitter early in the season, but after frost comes it is 
better. It is in its prime and cheapest during the winter months, 
after which it becomes tougher and stringy. Bunches with solid, 
clean, white stalks are the most crisp and sweet. Celery makes a 
fine salad, and the trimmings go into soup. 

Asparagus. 

A choice, palatable and health-giving vegetable. The season 
begins in March, After the first of July it grows fibrous and poor. 
Some prefer the white, others the purple top. The heads of the 
stalks should be full and green. 

Cucumbers. 

A pleasant vegetable or fruit, but difficult of digestion and con- 
taining but little nourishment. They should be green and hard. 
If eaten sliced with vinegar, it is best to leave the slices a short 
time in well salted water, which is said to extract some of their 
deleterious qualities. They are largely used as pickles, and the 
riper ones are often fried and otherwise cooked. 

Tomatoes. 

Wholesome and palatable, excellent food for people with weak 
stomachs or liver difficulties. Good raw, stewed, baked or in 
soups. The best time to can tomatoes is about the last of August, 
when they are abundant and cheap. Millions of bushels are canned 
every year, and if properly put up they are nearly as good as the 



MARKETING. ^^ 

fresh article. The tomato has come into popular and extensive 
use during the present generation, but it could ill be spared, now 
that its excellent qualities are fully known. 
Turnips. 
The are several varieties which may be had throughout the year. 
The medium sized turnips are better, as larger ones apt to be 
*' corky." They are excellent with boiled mutton, etc. 

Beans. 
Undried beans may be divided into two varieties, the shelled 
and the string beans. The former embraces the lima sorts, etc.; 
of the latter the Neapolitan or snap bean is considered the best and 
crispest. The potato lima is said to yield, when shelled, almost a 
half more than the common lima. 

Peas. 
There are many varieties of this fine vegetable. The smaller are 
the most desirable. Peas should be purchased in the pods, which 
should be cool, green and dry. If the pods are turned to a lighter 
shade or look rusty, the pea will have a black spot upon it, which 
- indicates that it is too old to be at its best. In some markets quan- 
tities of dried peas are sold soaked, to look like the fresh article. 
The best canned peas are put up in France— one can for six per- 
sons. 

Squasli. 

The summer squash is in market from April to the last of August, 
when the winter squash is in season; the latter is less delicate but 

more substantial. 

Green Corn, 

The first comes from the South in May. The home supply lasts 
until October. It should have well filled, milky ears, but if too 
old it will be hard, and no amount of boiling will make it tender. 
Tt is made into the excellent Indian dish succatash, into fritters, 
puddings, etc. 

Salsify or Oyster Plant. 

This vegetable has a grassy top and a long, tapering, white root, 
somewhat resembling a carrot, and suggests in eating it the flavor 



54 MARKETING. 

of oysters. The young tops are sometimes used as greens, and tlie 
root makes an excellent winter dish. 

Egg Plant. 

This vegetable, called guinea squash at the south, should be 
firm, hard, and rather under ripe. Cut into slices and fried, it has 
somewhat the taste of an oyster. They are also eaten plain boiled 
and in soups and stews. The large, purple, oval-shaped are the 
better variety. 

Radish. 

Said to be difficult of digestion of itself, but helps to digest 
other food. There are two kinds — the small bulbous or round, 
and the long. It is a fine spring relish. 

Articliokes. 

Pickled, used as a salad, and also served as a vegetable. There 
are two varieties, the Jerusalem artichoke being best known in 
this country. It is a tuber, like the potatoe. 

Pumpkin. 

The season begins in Septemljer and lasts until January. There 
are several varieties, most of which make excellent pumpkin pies. 

Rhubarb or Pic Plant, 

An excellent, cooling and healthful vegetable, much used for 
sauces, jiies, etc. The leaves are said to contain oxalic acid and 
must not be used as greens. 

Okra or G^umbo. 

The green seed pods of this plant are much esteemed for 
soups and stews, especially in the South. The long green variety 
is considered the best. 

SAIiADS, OREEIVS, ETC. 
liCttuce. 

This unrivaled salad plant may be had throughout most of the 
year iu the cities, being raised in hothouses through the winter 
months. There are many varieties, but one called Roman lettuce 



MARKETING. 55 

is especially recommended by cooks and caterers. It is evident 
that lettuce should be green, tender, and crisp. 

Spinaoli. 

A staple, hardy, and excellent plant, always in season. The 
best varieties are the broad leaved, curled leaved, and the prickly- 
leaved. It is used only as greens. 

Brussels Sprouts. 

A plant of the cabbage species, producing numerous small 
bunches or heads on the stalk. They are used as greens, and are 
tender and esteemed. They are in season through the fall and 
into the winter. 

Kale. 
The parts used are the tender tops, which should be well boiled. 
In season when frost comes, and continues good all winter. 
Beet Greens. 
The young beet plant makes delicious greens. They are best in 
May and June. 

Other Plants Used as Greens. 
The leaves of the young dandelion make excellent and healthy 
greens and salads; best in March and April. The older plants 
are bitter. This plant and the leaves of the narrow leaved dock, 
which also make tender greens, are considered excellent for the 
liver and for purifying the blood. Cavish is a common field 
plant, also used for greens. Purslain.— This common weed has 
round, thick, tender leaves, and is used as greens and as salad, 
and is also pickled. Other plants used as greens and salads 
are endive, cardamums, fetticus, cresses, nasturtium leaves, poke 
weed, rape, sorrel, shepherd sprouts, white mustard leaves, milk 
weed, chickory, horseradish leaves, etc. 

Horseradish. 

An excellent, pungent root, eaten with meats; said to be very 
healthful and a preventive of paralysis. 



56 MARKETING. 

Muslirooius. 

This edible fungus is as delicious as it is dangerous. While 
it is quite easy to distinguish them from the poisonous toadstools, 
mistakes often occur in gathering them, through ignorance. 
They are very plentiful in some parts of the country, growing 
wild in the fields. They impart a unique flavor to meats and 
sauces, and are also eaten as a relish or entre. The top of the 
young mushroom is white, the under portion loose and light red ; 
as it matures, the top changes to a brown color, and the under part 
to a dark red. The stem, which is white and round when 
young, also grows dark with age. Eatable mushrooms have a 
decidedly pleasant odor, and are never slimy. 

The following has been proposed as a test for mushrooms : 
"Sprinkle salt on the under or spongy part, and if it turns black 
the mushroom is good; if yellow, it is poisonous. Time should 
be given for the salt to act. The French canned mushrooms are 
safe and not very expensive. A forty cent can will make sauce 
enough for ten people. 

Truffles. 

Epicures pronounce the flavor of the truffle to be the most 
delicate and delicious of any vegetable production. It improves 
everything it touches in the culinary line. It is about the size of 
an Qgg^ rough, warty, and almost black. 

Pot Herbs. 

Among the herbs used for culinary purposes may be mentioned 
sage, thyme, summer savory, tarragon, anise, balm, bay leaves, 
basil, boneset, caraway, coriander, dill, hyssop, tovage, sweet 
marjoram, mint, etc. 

MEIiONS. 

Muskinelons. 

A good muskmelon is known by its color and odor. It gen- 
erally has nine ridges which are rough and separated by narrow 
strips of smooth skin. If the latter is green the melon is unripe. 
When ripe the rough skin is brownish gray, and the smooth skin 
greenish yellow. If the melon appears nearly or quite ripe all over> 



MARKETING. 



57 



it is over ripe and decomposing. If it has no odor the melon is only 
fit for cattle. The stronger the musk odor, the finer it is. It should 
be emelled at the "far end," or the one opposite the stalk end. 
Watermelon. 
If pressed anywhere near its center it should yield a little, and 
the indentation disappear when the finger is removed. If no in- 
dent can be made the melon is too green. If the depression 
remains, the melon is over ripe. Our main supply of watermelons 
comes from Georgia and North Carolina. They are picked a little 
before they are ripe, and will keep from fifteen to twenty days. 
The Kolb gem is perhaps the favorite at present. Sometimes as 
many as 175,000 melons reach New York from the South in a single 
week. They are wholesome and palatable. 

DOMESTIC FRUITS. 
The constantly increasing variety, excellence, abundance and 
cheapness of fruits and berries in this country, is full of promise 
for the health and vigor of the American people. Fruits are 
necessary for the physical health. They are cooling, healthful 
. and nutritious. As desserts they are far better for young and old 
than pastries or sweetmeats. 

Apples. 
This noble fruit is to be had in market all the year. It will be 
impossible to^me the many varieties. We have the Southern 
apples as early as April. These are followed by our own early 
summer and autiunn apples, and from October to March we have 
the winter varieties. It is needless to enlarge upon the many uses 
to which this well known fruit is put in the household. 
Apricots, 
A fine, small-skinned fruit, which ripens before the peach in 
July. The California apricots are much esteemed. 

Cherries. 

A grateful and acceptable fruit, the earliest of which reach us 
from Southern points in May. There are many varieties. 



58 MARKETIFG. 

Nectarines. 

Fine and well flavored, but not very abundant. They come 
about August 1, and continue until October. 

Peaches, 

A standard fruit, and one of the most tempting and delicious 
l^roducts of the earth. The raising of j^eaches has now become a 
great industry in certain sections, and the supply is abundant and 
cheap. The height of the joyful peach season is from the first of 
August until about the twentieth of September, during the latter 
half of which time they should be secured for preserving, etc. 

fears. 

Another of the royal fruit family, which has many luscious vari- 
eties. The best come in August, Sejjtember, and October. 
Among the choicest are the duchess, Bartlett, and virgalieu 
varieties. California sends many large and exquisite pears to 
Eastern markets, and there is a hopeful prospect that such ship- 
ments will continue to increase. There are several fine varieties 
of winter pears. 

Plums. 

Among the varieties of this fine fruit are the green gage, white 
and purple damsons, red, white and frost gage, magnum bonum, 
egg, etc. They ripen in August and are in full season until Octo- 
ber. The California j)lums are also very fine. The prune plum 
also flourishes bountifully on the Pacific coast. 

Grapes, 

There are many popular varieties of the fruit of the vine which 
are abundant thoughout the fall. Among them may be mentioned 
the exquisite Muscat and other grajDes of California, the Isabella, 
Concord, Catawba, black Hamburg, etc. Besides these, a single 
firm in New York imports every year more than half a million bar- 
rels of the hardy and cooling white Almeria grapes, which were 
formerly a costly luxury, but are now abundant and cheap. 

Quince. 

A finely flavored fruit, which is never eaten unless cooked ; is 



MARKETING. 59 

made into preserves, sauces, etc. They come in October The 
smooth large ones of the apple quince variety are the favorites with 
many. 

TROPICAL. FRUITS. 

The multiplied and improved facilities of the last few years, and 
the better knowledge of the people in regard to the excellence and 
healthfulness of these fruits, have contributed to widen and vastly 
increase the popular demand for them, which has been met by a 
correspondingly increased supply. They are now sold in full 
variety and at very moderate prices in almost every town and city 
in the land, and are looked upon as articles of almost daily neces- 
sity by thousands who formerly regarded them as costly luxuries. 

Oranges, 

Owing to the excellence and increasing supply of this fruit from 
Florida and California, importation from the Mediterranean has 
declined somewhal, but still, a million boxes are annually received 
in New York. Havana oranges, which were formerly considered 
the best, have deteriorated in quality of late years. Last year about 
20,000 barrels of Havana oranges were received in New York, and 
a similar quantity from Jamaica. The Florida crop was about 
one and a quarter million boxes, and that of California half a mil- 
lion boxes. Mediterranean oranges are thin-skinned and juicy, 
and they are hardy and keep better. But the oranges of Florida 
are richer and better flavored. One of the choicest varieties is the 
seedless navel. Many of the sw^eetest Florida oranges are covered 
with a sort of rust, which, while it does not impair the flavor, 
renders them less sightly and handsome. 

liCinons. 

About a million and a half boxes of lemons are sold yearly in 
New York, at least four-fifths of which comes from Sicily. 
Florida has begun the lemon culture, but her contribution has 
not yet exceeded fifty thousand boxes in the year ; but the pro- 
duction is increasing. Lemons vary much more in price than 
oranges ; a long spell of hot weather or unusual sickness being 
among the numerous causes that advance the price. 



60 MARKETING. 

Bananas. 

The consumption of this most nutritious fruit is rapidly grow- 
ing in the United States. There are two varieties — the red from 
Barracoa, Cuba, and the yellow from Jamaica and the Spanish 
Main. The yellow are decidedly the better. Two and a half 
million bunches of bananas were received at the port of New 
York last year. Bananas are in market all the year, but the height 
of the season is from March to August. 

Cocoaniits. 

This rich nut is largely used for cake, pies, etc. It is delicious 
in flavor, but should be avoided by dyspeptics, about twelve 
million cocoanuts arrrived last year at New York. 

Pineapples. 

This exquisitely flavored fruit is very desirable sliced for the 
tea table. The season is from May to August; large quantities 
are brought here by steam and sail from Florida, Jamaica, etc. 
Prices averaged last year, at wholesale, sixteen to eighteen cents, 
for good merchantable pines. 

BERRIES. 

Strawberries. 

The strawberry season formerly lasted but two or three weeks, 
while now, strawberries grown in the open air may be found in 
our markets half the months of the year. The earliest of the season 
come from Florida about the last of February, and are sold as high 
as a dollar per quart. Shipments follow from along up the coast, 
and from the interior states like Tennessee and Kentucky, and 
finally end up with berries from the extreme northern limit of the 
country. There are many varieties, and the exquisite berry is 
too well known to need description. 

Raspberries. 

In favorable seasons these pleasant berries come into market 
early in June, and continue until about the first of August. 
There are several excellent varieties. 



MARKETING. 61 

Blackberries. 

These wholesome and favorite berries ripen from the first to the 
tenth of July, and there are several choice kinds. The best are 
the fully ripe and freshly picked berries. 
Cranberries. 

The Eastern markets are mainly supplied from Cape Cod and the 
state of New Jersey. They sell at about fifteen cents per quart in 
market, and are considered an almost indispensable article, being 
made into sauce, jelly, tarts, etc. The sauce is an excellent 
adjunct with many kinds of meat. The new fruit comes into 
market about the first of September. They are very healthful. 
The largest and darkest are the best. 
Currants. 

Another useful, wholesome and cooling berry; used both green 
and ripe. There are several varieties and colors, both red, white 
and black. They ripen in July, but will cling to the bushes until 
September. 

Gooseberries. 

These are also largely used green. They are to be had red, 
yellow, green and white. The best are of medium size and free 
from rust. 



CONTENTS. 



MISCELLANEOUS. Page 

Loss by i snoraiit buying and bad cooking 5 

Comparative prices of meats 5 

A National dish 6 

Soups and Stews J 

Table economies 7 

Which are the best cuts? 7 

Loss in cooking meats • - • • • I 

Proportion of water in various foods o 

Force in food ° 

Digestion of food » 

Jpg^^g O 

Best age and weight of food animals 9 

BEEF. , . . Q 

Grass and grain fed animals 9 

Ripening meats 9 

Spoiled meats |J^ 

How to judgeof good meats I'J 

A bad habit | J 

A good butcher \j^ 

Diagram of a Beeve, with cuts |^ 

Cutting up Beef jj 

Latest modes of cutting (with diagram) j* 

First, second and third cuts in a side of beef lo 

Quality of the cuts |^ 

Suggestions of butchers ^^ 

Salted meats and corning pieces ij 

The brine ;••:•••;•••; 

Beef's heart, kidneys, liver, palates, suet, tails, tongues, 
tripe ^^ 

COOKING MEATS. ,„ .„ 

Boiling, broths, roasting, steaks i», ly 

MUTTON. .q 

How to select f^ 

Diagram of cuts and quality of the cuts '^ 

LAMB 

Source of supply. Spring lamb and its cost. English 
and Scotch mutton. To choose lamb. Lamb fries ^1 

How to select good pork. Mode of cutting (with diagram.) 
The cuts: spareribs, tenderloins, etc. ; lard, sausages, hams, 

bacon, shoulders 22 and 23 

VF 4 T 

The four grades of calves. "Bob Veal." To select veal. 
The cuts (with diagram.) The cuts— how used; sweetbreads, 
calve's head, kidneys, haslet, brains 24, 25, 26 

Great difference in quality. Honorable butchers. A good 
plan. Street venders 27 

POULTRY. . ^ c . 

Rapidly increasing supply. How to select. Spring chickens, 
capons, turkeys, guinea fowls, tame pigeons and squabs, 
geese and duck 28, 29, 30 

EGGS. . . - „„ 

The various kinds compared. How to judge of good eggs. . . . dO 



64 INDEX. 

GAME. 

Venison, rabbits, squirrels, bear 31 

WILD FOWL AND GAME BIRDS. 

Canvasback ducks, red head, mallard, black duck, wood 

duck, widgeon and other varieties 32 

Woodcock, quail, partridge, prairie chicken, snipe, wild 
turkey, plover, doe birds, reed birds, wild pigeon, black 
birds, other birds, imported game birds, birds not eaten. 33, 34, 35 

FISH, (SALT WATER). 

Cod, haddock 36 

Hake, pollock, halibut, blueflsh, weak fish 37 

Shad, Salmon 38 

Mackerel, Spanish mackerel, sheepshead, pompano, sturgeon. 39 
Striped bass, sea or rock bass, black fish, sword fish, bonito, 

Tom cod or frost fish 40 

Smelts, butter fish, herring, porgy or scup, flat fish, flukes. . . 41 
Red snappers, black perch, white sea perch, whiting, king fish. 

Mullet 42 

Gar or sea pike, white bait, eels, menhaden 43 

FISH, (FRESH WATER). 

White fish of the lakes, muscallonge, speckled trout, lake 

tiout, rainbow trout 44 

Yellow, blue and sauger or gray pike, pickerel, black bass, 

ciscoes or lake herring 45 

Yellow perch, sucker, catfish, sunfish 46 

TURTLES. 

Diamond back and Southern terrapin, snappng; soft shelled; 
logger head and hawk's bill turtles, green turpies, etc. 46 and 47 
Frogs legs 47 

SHELL FL--H. 

Oysters 47 

Clams, scallops, mussels, lobsters, crabs, prawns, shrimps 48, 49 

VEGETABLES. 

Excellent for the health. The earliest vegetables. Cooking 

vegetables 49, 50 

Potatoes. Sweet potatoes, onions, garlic, leteks, chives, cab- 
bage, cauliflower 50, 51 

Carrots, parsnip, celery, asparagus, cucumbers, tomatoes 52 

Turnips, beans, peas, squash, green corn, oyster plant 53 

Egg plant, radish, artichokes, pumpkins, rhubarb or pie- 
plant, okra, or gumbo 54 

SALADS, GREENS, ETC. 

Lettuce, spinach, brussel sprouts, kale, beet-greens, dande- 
lion, cavish, purslain and many others 54, 55 

Pot herbs 56 

Horseradish 55 

Mushrooms 56 

Truffles 56 

MELONS. ^ 

Muskmelons, watermelons 56, 57 

DOMESTIC FRUITS. 

Apples, apricots, cherries, nectarines 57 

Peaches, pears, plums, grapes, quince 58 

TROPICAL FRUITS. 

Oranges, lemons, bananas, cocoanuts, pineapples 59, 60 

BERRIES. 

Strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, cranberries, currants, 
gooseberries 60, 61 



